This invention relates generally to medical diagnostic instruments, and has particular reference to a novel portable, hand-held tympanometer and a coacting printer/charger unit.
Tympanometers are instruments that are used to measure the acoustic admittance (or "absorption") of the tympanic membrane and middle ear system over a range of pressures. Tympanometers have been commercially available since around 1958 and most of the prior art devices employ a test probe that is inserted into the patient's ear canal, the probe being maintained in position by a headset or manually by the physician or clinician administering the test.
To the best of the applicant's knowledge, in all of the tympanometers that have been developed heretofore, the ear test probe is connected by a cable to a larger, table mounted unit provided with means for displaying the test results. Some of the table mounted units also include means for recording the test results, as for example, on a chart.
A limitation on the use of the prior art tympanometers results from the fact that the ear test probe must be physically connected to the table mounted unit to produce a display of the test results and/or to have a printout of same. This means that the testing must take place in the room where the table mounted unit is located because the latter is not readily portable. Because of this, the prior art devices cannot be used by a physician in the course of making his hospital rounds, nor can they be conveniently used in certain other instances.